


my best friend

by maelstrcms



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bullying, Foster Care, Gen, Imaginary Friends, Mental Instability, Orphans, platonic chensung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27365665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maelstrcms/pseuds/maelstrcms
Summary: Chenle is Jisung’s best friend.That’s really all you need to know.
Relationships: Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	my best friend

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this during a mental breakdown, please don't judge me- this is loosely based on an experience in my childhood
> 
> _unbetaed_

"Chenle, we're moving."

Jisung's best friend looked up from his book. "Again?"

"Yup," Jisung confirmed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Chenle leapt from his seat and did a little happy dance, dropping the book on the floor. "Finally! the food here sucks anyways. Mrs. Han is really nice though, I might miss her."  
Jisung smiled at the sight, replaying the conversation he overheard between his social worker and his current foster parents in his head.

"I think he needs a different environment," the social worker's voice echoed. "He is a brilliant boy, he just has... developmental issues."

A hum of agreement from his foster parents followed her statement. "I think a little freedom will help him. I've managed to find him a new home in the countryside."

"Will you keep us updated on him?" his current foster mother, Mrs. Han, asked, sounding concerned.

"Yes, don't worry Mrs. Han. The new place also has a few boys around his age, it would do him good to make some _real_ friends."

Jisung was jolted back to reality when his best friend ran over to him and began shaking his hand back and forth. "Where will the new place be?" Chenle questioned, his eyes wide.

Jisung scratched the side of his head. "The social worker said something about the countryside."

Chenle let out a loud screech of delight, dancing in circles around Jisung. "The countryside? That's so cool! You have to thank her later!"

"Keep it down!" he whisper-shouted, covering Chenle's mouth and looking around. "And i can't, she hasn't actually told me about it yet. I overheard them talking about it earlier."

"You eavesdropped? You're not supposed to do that, Jisung!" Chenle yelled, shaking free from Jisung's grip, his mouth open wide like a baby bird. "Mrs. Han!"

"Quiet!" Jisung hissed, shoving his hand over Chenle's mouth. "She's gonna hear you-"

The door swung open and Mrs. Han stood at the doorway. "What's with all the ruckus, Jisung?"

"Chenle and I were reading together," he said, letting go of Chenle and gesturing at the book on the floor. Chenle nodded, keeping an innocent expression on his face.

Mrs. Han's eyebrows shot up. "Why is the book on the floor, then?"

Jisung and Chenle looked at each other, shrugging. Chenle pulled a face at Jisung and looked back at her.

"I got mad cause I didn't understand a bunch of words in it, and Chenle wasn't helping me," lied Jisung, his fingers crossed behind his back.

The foster mother strode over and picked the book up, scanning the cover. "Of course you couldn't understand it, you're only 9! This book is very hard to read, especially at your age."

Jisung pouted. "but Chenle could read it..."

Mrs. Han kneeled down on one knee to look at Jisung at eye level. "We all have things that we are better at. That's what makes us special! Even though Chenle is better at reading, and you're better at drawing and imagining things, it doesn't make you any less special than he is. Remember that, okay?"

She smiled warmly at the two boys. "Now, you two are going to pack your bags, we're going somewhere new where there are more kids your age so you can make friends. Don't forget anything!"

After the door closed behind her, Jisung turned to Chenle with the biggest grin on his face. "We're actually going to the countryside!"

"Another new adventure!" Chenle leapt onto the bed and gathered their little collection of stuffed animals in his arms.

"Put them in here, Chenle," said Jisung, dragging the familiar blue suitcase out from under the bed.

"Ok!"

Chenle ran to the cupboard and grabbed all the clothes, dumping them in a crumpled heap next to Jisung.

"Don't do that! now I'm gonna have to fold these all over again," Jisung huffed.

"Whatever!" the older boy giggled, running out of the room. "I'm gonna get our toothbrushes!"

Jisung turned back to the clothes, slowly and meticulously folding the crumpled pieces of clothing back into neat little squares and packing them into the suitcase. Chenle came back quickly with the things he had run out for, and the two silently packed their entire existence into the blue suitcase.

Jisung's collection of battered action figurines and Chenle's worn basketball with several patches stuck on it to keep it from falling apart were packed last. There weren't enough belongings to fill the suitcase to the brim like they had wished for, but it was slowly getting there. little by little.

Jisung silently watched Chenle mess around with the suitcase, a lopsided half-smile on his face. Chenle noticed him standing alone and happily bounced over to him.

"What's up?"

Jisung sighed. "Mrs. Han said that there'll be more kids at the new place."

"Yeah!" squeaked Chenle. "It's gonna be _so_ fun! We can make new friends!"

"We'll still be best friends though, right?"

Chenle looked shocked. " _Of course_! You'll always be my best friend."

Jisung stuck his pinky out. "Pinky promise?"

Without a second of hesitation, Chenle grasped Jisung's little finger in his own. "Pinky promise."

Jisung pressed his face to the window of the car, watching as they drove further and further away from the city he had grown so fond of.

"Are we nearly there yet?" he asked, tapping the social worker, who was driving, on the shoulder.

"One more hour, kiddo. Are you bored back there? Do you want a game to play?"

He shook his head. "Chenle's asleep, I don't wanna wake him up."

The woman sighed and met his eyes through the rearview mirror. "Look, kid, don't you think you're getting a little too close to Chenle? You're probably gonna get... separated from him at some point."

Jisung smiled at her. "Don't worry, he promised to stay with me forever. He's my best friend, remember? That's what best friends do. They stick together no matter what."

"Well, what if the next foster home doesn't let him come with you?"

"They won't," Jisung firmly said. "Where _he_ goes, _I_ go."

The social worker sighed and turned back to the wheel. "Whatever you say, kiddo."

"Welcome to your new foster home, Jisung!" a pleasant-looking woman who was his new foster mother sang, squeezing both Jisung's cheeks.

"And Chenle," the social worker added, glancing at Jisung, who was carrying a sleeping Chenle on his back.

The woman blinked. "Right, and Chenle." she turned to Jisung. "Your social worker and I need to discuss some things first. Why don't you and Chenle go exploring in the forest behind the house? I'll take care of your things while you're gone, dear."

Jisung nodded. unlike Chenle, he wasn't fussy, and did what the adults told him to do.

"C'mon Chenle, let's go." he whispered to the sleeping boy, carrying him out of the house, oblivious to the hushed conversation happening between the two adults.

"Ooh, look at that, jisung!" called Chenle, pointing at a brightly-coloured bug resting on a nearby tree branch. "It's so pretty!"

They were settled on a log by a wide stream they had found after an hour of venturing into the woods, Jisung's legs tucked under him. Chenle's bare feet dangled in the water, happily kicking up little splashes of cool water into the air.

"I think I'm gonna like it here," Jisung took in the scenery with wide eyes. His little moment was interrupted by Chenle kicking the cold water at him, accompanied by his squeaky dolphin laughter. They messed around for a while before settling into a comfortable silence.

The peaceful quiet was interrupted by loud shouts and laughter. Jisung peered through the trees, squinting at the approaching figures while Chenle hurriedly shoved his feet back into his shoes. There were about five tall, broad-shouldered boys who looked a few years older than them heading towards the two. Jisung swallowed nervously. New people made him anxious, and the boys didn't look nice at all.

Next to him, Chenle took his hand and squeezed it.

"Hey, you!" one of the boys yelled. "Are you crazy? Who the hell are you talking to? There's no one here except for us!"

"He's not alone, he's got his _silly_ little imaginary best friend there with him, remember? Mrs. Kim told us about that nutcase," another spat. "Pathetic."

Their words stung, and Jisung gripped Chenle's hand, which had gone limp, a little tighter. "What do you mean, imaginary? Chenle's real and he's right here! You're the ones who are silly."

The group laughed long and hard. "Pathetic!" the same boy repeated. "It has a _name_!"

" _His_ name is _Chenle_ ," jisung mustered all his courage to shout. "and you guys are bullies!"

They laughed again, and one of the boys in the back spat out a disgusting piece of chewed gum that landed on Jisung's tattered shoe. Jisung swallowed the lump in his throat, trying his best not to cry.

That was his first and only pair of shoes.

He felt Chenle's hand slip from his and turned to see his best friend sprinting off in the opposite direction, tears streaming down his face. Jisung started to follow in his tracks, but one of the tall boys stepped to block his path.

"Look!" a boy yelled. "Even his _imaginary_ friend left him! What a _loser_."

"You're useless!"

"A waste of space!"

"Even your own _parents_ couldn't stand you and booted you off to an orphanage," the biggest one of them all came up close to him to speak, and Jisung could feel his warm breath on his face. "You're _worthless_."

He finally broke down in tears and covered his ears, their words ringing in his ears. He curled into a ball as they kicked him over and over, telling him again and again.

_"You're alone. Nobody wants you._

Jisung screwed his eyes shut, locking them all out.

He was alone in the forest.

It was almost nighttime now. the colourful bugs had long since left, and the place was deserted. Empty.

Except for a blurry figure looking down on him.

Jisung cradled his aching head. "Chenle?"

The figure made no move to help Jisung up, and glared down at him. The familiar smile on Chenle's face was now... darker.

But it was still Chenle. _his_ Chenle.

"Are you okay now? I'm sorry about the bullies earlier. They were so mean, calling you imaginary," babbled Jisung, climbing to his feet.

The dark look on Chenle's face suddenly disappeared without a trace. "I'm fine now!" he chirped. "Sorry for running off like that."

"They were lying, right? You're _not_ imaginary."

Chenle gave him a weird look. "Of course not! You don't actually believe them, do you?"

"No," Jisung forced a grin onto his face as Chenle lead him back to the house. "No, I don't."

The mean boys were a lot nicer when Mrs. Kim was in the room, but they glared daggers at him the minute her back was turned.

"How was your day, Jisung and Chenle? Did you have fun exploring?"

"Definitely, Mrs. Kim!" Chenle gushed. "We had a really good time!"

"We took them around, brought them to some of our hangout spots," an older boy lied with a smooth smile.

"Oh really? I'm proud of you, Jaemin. Why don't you take them to town one of these days and show them the sights? I'm sure they'll love that."

"Yeah," Jaemin met Jisung's eyes. "I'm sure they will."

It had become an everyday thing. Chenle would disappear for hours, leaving Jisung to be beaten up and scolded by the older boys alone. Jisung didn't mind Chenle leaving. it was better for him to be pushed around, leaving Chenle safe, but it didn't mean that he liked what the boys did.

Jisung had learned their names by now. Mark was the oldest and the scariest of the bunch. Jaemin was Mrs. Kim's favourite and his words hurt like stones. Renjun and Jeno were brothers and the strongest ones, who liked punching him in the stomach where it hurt. Donghyuck, the youngest of the group, was a little bit nicer to him than the rest. He wouldn't join in on kicking him as much as the others did and stood by the side, watching.

They kept telling Jisung that he was a waste of space, he was useless, he was pathetic...

Jisung found himself starting to believe them, just a little bit.

One day, Chenle came back with the dark look on his face again.

"Did you know that you're stupid, _Park_ Jisung? You're so dumb that it's funny."

Jisung flinched away from Chenle. the older knew to never call Jisung by his surname. _ever_.

"Ch-Chenle, you k-know not to call me t-that."

"I can call you whatever I want, _Park_ ," Chenle sneered, slapping away Jisung's shaking hand. "what, poor Jisungie can't use his own name? I'd almost pity you if you weren't so _brainless_."

Chenle's words hit Jisung like a truck. He turned away from Chenle with tears in his eyes. "Ch-Chenle..."

"I'm done with you. we're _done_."

With that, he vanished.

**Ten years later**

Jisung rushed out of the car, waving goodbye to the old woman inside. "See you later, Mrs. Kim!"

"Good luck!" she called, rolling her window down to wave at him.

Today was his first day of college.

It has been 9 years since Mrs. Kim had made the choice to adopt him. The other boys had been sent to different foster homes when Mrs. Kim had found out about what had happened to Jisung, except for Donghyuck. Jisung had begged Mrs. Kim to let Donghyuck stay, and he had become a brother to Jisung. Mrs. Kim also arranged weekly meetings with a therapist. Life was decidedly better.

His battered blue suitcase now sat in his room, collecting dust.

Most importantly, he had never seen his imaginary friend ever since that fateful day.

Jisung shook his head. there wasn't any use remembering all that stuff. It was in the past, after all.

He hurried into the semi-crowded building with his head held high.

There were groups of people hanging outside the classes, and Jisung stood by himself, in between them all. His phone went off in his bag and he reached to grab it but stopped when he heard a laugh. A loud, _familiar_ high-pitched laugh. He spun around, locating a head of hair sticking out in a crowd that he recognized. Jisung instinctively ran forward and shoved the people standing in his way aside, and was soon face-to-face with the person that was once his best friend.

"You're Chenle, right?"

His forehead wrinkled. "Do i know you?"

Jisung reached out to grab his outstretched hand. He was _real_. Chenle's hand had a different kind of warmth that Jisung's imagination couldn't create.

He realized that he was being too forward to a stranger and immediately let go.

"My name is Park Jisung, and once upon a time, you were my best friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [carrd](https://sunminoir.carrd.co/)   
>  [twitter](https://twitter.com/CANDYHYCKS)   
>  [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/CANDYHYCKS)

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/maelstrcms) / [curious cat](https://curiouscat.qa/maelstrcms)


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